Rush Review: Training Camp Day #4

#1. QB Cam Newton was a full go today in all drills. OT Daryl Williams and C Matt Paradis did not do any 1 on 1 drills but did all the team drills. Vet day off for DT Gerald McCoy. DT Kyle Love missed practice with a leg injury suffered in Saturday’s practice.

** Just a fan friendly reminder about 1 on 1 battles during training camp. On every rep one player gets the W and one player gets the L. The player that gets W’s consistently is not a 1st team All Pro. The player that gets L’s consistently is not a bum. DL vs. OL drills favor the defender. WR vs. DB drills favor the receiver. **

#3. During 1 on 1 DL vs. OL drills LB/DE Marquis Haynes continues to show big improvement. I counted him using 4 different moves against 4 different blockers to get free quickly. LB/DE Bruce Irvin showed that he can win with power or speed or elusiveness. I feel like several Panthers fans are sleeping on his abilities because of his age but he can get almost as low as rookie LB/DE Brian Burns. DTs Kawann Short and Vernon Butler Jr. both were successful in taking on double team blocks and splitting them. DL coach Sam Mills III was very hyped in giving them their praises.

#4. During 1 on 1 WR vs. DB drills WR Curtis Samuel is once again displaying a level of speed and quickness that is hard not to be super excited about. He is blowing past any defender and catching every ball thrown his way. Him and CB Donte Jackson are easily the most entertaining battle at camp. Every time Samuel beats Jackson, Jackson comes right back the next time and makes a play on the ball. So in other words…..”Iron Sharpening Iron”. WR DJ Moore vs. CB James Bradberry has also been very competitive as well. Moore’s route running has gotten noticeably better. Bradberry’s footwork has improved to the point that he is making timely plays on the ball. WR Torrey Smith came back strong by catching several contested passes on both intermediate and deep routes. CB Kevon Seymour is quietly making plays playing both outside CB and nickel CB. His ability to jam receivers at the LOS was heavily praised by DB coach Perry Fewell. In pass protection drills, LB Jared Norris actually blew up RB Christian McCaffrey. That drew several responses by teammates.

#5. During team drills, there were several big plays made by both the offense and the defense. Newton threw a perfect pass down the seam to TE Greg Olsen but S Eric Reid timed it just right and deflected the ball into Donte Jackson’s hands for an interception. Newton hit WR DJ Moore on a slant route that he made a great catch behind his back and took off down field. S Corrion Ballard made a big hard hit on rookie RB Jordan Scarlett that jarred the ball loose as soon as it hit his hands. However Scarlett came back with a pair of deep catches over 20 yards each. WR DJ Moore ran a deep route but another perfectly timed jump by CB Jackson knocked the ball down. Newton threw a nice touch pass to WR Jarius Wright over the leaping DB Cole Luke. CB Lorenzo Doss picked off a pass by QB Taylor Heinicke as well. DE/LB Mario Addison did a sick spin move on OT Daryl Williams that drew “Oooohs and Ahhhhhs” from the crowd.

#6. RB Cameron Artis-Payne and WR Aldrick Robinson got several reps with the 1st team offense. Robinson ability to get open and get down the field quickly is a sight to see honestly. He was drawing double teams for the rest of practice after getting 1 on 1 coverage his first two plays in. Artis-Payne seems to have worked on his agility because his stop & start moves on defenders has broken several ankles of would-be tacklers. It would not surprise me if our RB depth will be McCaffrey, Artis-Payne and Scarlett come Week 1.